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MMA Link Club: UFC books Cain Velasquez vs. JDS for 11/12 Fox Anaheim show

By Zach Arnold | September 2, 2011

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So, you’ve now seen the letter by Culinary Union 226 to the FTC about an investigation into the UFC. A couple of days ago at Boxing Insider, Bryanna Fissori posted a new item titled UFC’s new legal team gets ready for Battle with the FTC. Here’s a look at the upcoming battle:

“Tortuous interference” is a likely a cause of action given the nature of the company’s contractual and/or business relationships. In order to succeed on a claim of such, the FTC would have to prove that the UFC convinced a party to breach a contract or prevented them from fulfilling their contractual obligations. Zuffa must have also had knowledge the party’s existing contract. The interference with business relationships claim is only available when the tortfeasor (Zuffa) does something to prevent parties from establishing or maintaining business relationships.

One general example where this may be evidenced by Zuffa is in their business strategy involving sponsorship which prohibits sponsors from sponsoring any other MMA event. The UFC is known to ban sponsors for virtually any reason including sponsoring others in the industry regardless of if they already have a known contractual obligation to that company or fighter. The FTC would have to prove that Zuffa had knowledge and intent in this situation to find tortuous interference and the extent of the interference would be taken into consideration. Given the public nature of the company’s relationships with sponsors it is unlikely that there actions would constitute unlawful dealings as for the most part, the cards are all on the table.

Member sites of the MMA Link Club

This week’s MMA Link Club featured stories

Five Ounces of Pain: Strikeforce GP conference call highlights

MMA Fighting: Josh Barnett says he must win – and finish

“Titles are spoils of war,” Barnett said Tuesday during a media call for the semifinals of the
tournament, which takes place Sept. 10. “You have to go out there and win battles before you can raid the dead of all their belongings.”

NBC Sports: Dana White still open to signing Alistair Overeem

How open? Rumors floated yesterday that Overeem is preparing a relocation to Las Vegas and could be on the Fox November show, something Kevin Iole is not impressed by because Overeem isn’t known to the masses. Mr. Iole stated that UFC wanted to book Brock Lesnar vs. frank Mir for the Fox main event. He doesn’t think it will happen and guesses that Dan Henderson vs. Vitor Belfort is an option open to book.

Cage Potato: Video of ‘Proving Ground’ winner Nick Newell is rising above the challenges

MMA Mania: Rampage Jackson says Jon Jones can watch him train but still won’t be able to stop what’s coming

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Bleacher Report: Exclusive interview with cult MMA documentarist Genghis Con

What is so striking about Genghis Con is how real his depictions prove. You can’t help but feel that you are watching something eminently authentic, created by someone congruently genuine.

Bleacher Report: Very in-depth interview with Brian Stann about Chael Sonnen the person & Chael Sonnen the fighter

He was always excited and happy to see me succeed, which is very kind of him, but when I was told by the UFC that we are scheduled to fight, my initial reaction wasn’t to question that on the basis of our relationship outside of the cage. It’s not out of lack of respect towards Chael, but I train with a lot of middleweights in my gym with whom I may have to use that “friend card” in the future.

Middle Easy: One FC – the day of the weigh-ins (you try flying 24 hours to a country for an MMA show)

I managed to find a 24-hour wonton hut in the alley of the Orchard City Centre. Two older ladies were behind the counter, hooking it up with a giant pot of some steaming brew. I knew I could bust out some Mandarin Chinese, so I did. I pointed to something on the menu and asked what it was in Mandarin. One of the cooks flipped out, the other looked at me in disbelief. ‘American?’ she asked. ‘Dui’ I responded with (which is ‘Yes’ in Mandarin). Now what happened next isn’t fabricated at all. Not in anyway. They put down their kitchen utensils and started chanted ‘Obama, Obama! Obama is good!’ and danced behind the counter.

MMA-Japan.com (Mike Hackler): Checking in from One FC

Events are already scheduled for the organization, of which have yet to be announced, but will be right after the show. Let me tell you Asia, you guys are going to get a heavy dosage of MMA in the months and years to come.

Low Kick: Former Strikeforce official says co-promotion may have led to the company’s decline

For a related article on this topic, check out David Williams’ piece on Fedor and what his relative worth was to Strikeforce.

The Fight Nerd: Top 10 worked shoot fights in Japanese pro-wrestling

The choice they made for #1 was an interesting bout. It took place at Tokyo Bay NK Hall, did a half-house, and was Tsuyoshi Kohsaka coming off a UFC run. Tamura was still viewed as the ‘ace’ of RINGS in Japan and Kohsaka never got real traction as a star when he came back. He was taken more seriously, but he didn’t become a bigger star.

I’m very surprised that the 20-minute draw between Frank Shamrock & Kiyoshi Tamura from Osaka Prefectural Gym (RINGS) didn’t make the list.

Also at The Fight Nerd, photos from fight rehearsals on “Warrior” film.

MMA Convert: King Mo loves MMA, but not the culture

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MMA Payout: Film review of “Warrior”

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Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

24 Responses to “MMA Link Club: UFC books Cain Velasquez vs. JDS for 11/12 Fox Anaheim show”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    1) The Championship Clause is used as a backstop. But the UFC has always negotiated in good faith BEFORE the championship clause comes into effect (at least for the last 5 or so years). And the UFC can easily prove how their business has been negatively effected when the championship clause is not there.

    2) The Culinary People need to stop wasting their employees money on matters like this. I would not be happy if I was part of that union and I saw how my dues were being spent.

    3) When is the last time a company has really been shut down or crippled based on the FTC? Not much will come of this.

    As for the the FOX Show…. There really are so many options….

    Henderson/Shogun, Carwin/Overeem, Ortiz/Franklin, and so forth. Putting the Heavyweight Title on the line would be very interesting as well. Machida is likely off the table due to his style that can be boring.

    I’ve noticed some hype going on for OneFC. Seems like the same fans and reporter base that got behind Strikeforce, EliteXC, Affliction, the IFL, Bodog, and others. It’s like they can’t force themselves to just be content with one company. They are always looking to root for something else, no matter how little talent the company currently has.

    • Light23 says:

      Personally, I’d rather have Legend FC get big instead of ONE. They have a ring and pretty good presentation. It felt like a Chinese version of PRIDE.

      I don’t like the idea of ONE using a cage, unless they do something to make it more asthetically pleasing.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/01/bruce-feldman-leaves-espn_n_945606.html

    Seems like the mass exodus of ESPN continues. That place seems to be a complete wreck behind the scenes.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      That whole story from top to bottom is stunning. Feldman got permission (allegedly) before the Leach scandal happened at Texas Tech to write the book with the coach. Once the scandal broke, ESPN sided with Texas Tech (more or less with Craig James). Leach ends up suing them and exposes huge e-mail bombshells about a PR firm (Spaeth) that James had reportedly hired.

      So, then, the book comes out and Leach is doing his book PR tour and ESPN suspends Feldman according to Sports by Brooks. When it’s uncovered that he’s not on Twitter or social media actively, ESPN denies in the press that he’s been suspended (which Bruce now says he was).

      To burn a bridge like that with such a veteran is crazy. To see him go to CBS, home of the SEC and their own College Sports Network, is even crazier.

      CBS just got one hell of a pick-up.

  3. RST says:

    I read the list of the accusations yesterday, signing over likenesses, champion clauses, etc, and even if they’re true none of them seem to be food related.
    That should be thrown out and they should be fined just for abusing the legal system to further an unrelated agenda.
    But I suppose “abusing the legal system” around here is a redundant statement.

    I have to agree with Mo.
    MMA forums have always been a pain, but after what seemed a momentary upswing for a short time I think they’ve gotten improbably worse again. MMA.TV is almost as bad as reading youtube comments these days, and I’m pretty sure the Fox deal isn’t gonna help that particular situation.
    I see two main reasons: Zuffas/Danas incessant chase for pop culture significance, and shallow forum mods who encourage that faboi culture and dialouge.

    I still check the news and FO still has pretty good conversations as usual, but I cant read the various MMA forums like I used to. It just makes me angry and miserable.

    Cute how mmatv has a story in the news section today:

    “Anderson Silva now unanimously no.1 pound for pound”!

    That sounds rather final doesn’t it?
    So I clicked on it.

    -According to Yahoo sports via mmajunkie.

    I dont think yahoo is even a well respected company within the tech industry in proportion to its size.
    About as admired as AOL.
    Now they’ve deemed the “unanimous” P4P champion.

    More rotten fruit from Danas pop culture garden.

    • RST says:

      Well maybe not So rotten:

      “Yahoo! Sports’ voting panels includes Denny Burkholder (CBSSports.com), Elias Cepeda (Fight! Magazine), Mike Chiappetta (MMAFighting.com and Fight! Magazine), Steve Cofield (Cagewriter and ESPN Radio 1100 Las Vegas), Dave Doyle (Yahoo! Sports), Ben Fowlkes (SportsIllustrated.com and MMAFighting.com), Josh Gross (ESPN.com), Ariel Helwani (Versus.com and MMAFighting.com), Kevin Iole (Yahoo! Sports), Damon Martin (MMAWeekly.com), Todd Martin (freelance), Franklin McNeil (ESPN.com), Brad McCray (freelance), Dave Meltzer (Yahoo! Sports and The Wrestling Observer), John Morgan (MMAjunkie.com), Ken Pishna (MMAWeekly.com), Michael David Smith (MMAFighting.com), Mike Straka (Tapout TV), Dann Stupp (MMAjunkie.com and The Dayton Daily News) and Jeff Wagenheim (SI.com)”

      IMO:

      Cepeda, Fowkles, Todd Martin and, Meltzer are pretty good.

      damon martin, MDS and chiapetta and periodically gross are various degrees of kinda bad.

      I’m heard of Pishna, Iole, Straka, Cofield and Helwani.
      I dont read them, not familiar with them, but they’ve at least been around.

      I’ve never even heard of burkholder, doyle, mcneil, mccray, morgan, or wagenheim.

  4. Light23 says:

    Overeem vs Mir would be great for FOX. Overeem is unknown, but has a fantastic personality which would be shown on Primetime.

    The fight is unlikely to be a repeat of Reem vs Werdum, and will end with one of them being put over spectacularly.

    If Mir wins (maybe Overeem too?) you could bring Lesnar into the ring to promote their rubber match.

  5. bluerosekiller says:

    I think it would be fantastic if they could sign Overeem for the 11/12 show.
    Sure, he may not be particularly well known to the general public or the “UFC only” folks, but I sincerely doubt that they would have a difficult time selling him to the masses with the right push, video highlights etc..

  6. bluerosekiller says:

    Well, you can’t go wrong with a pretty highly anticipated World Heavyweight Title fight, now can you?
    This is awesome news.
    This is a clear indication that Dana & the boys are taking this deal with FOX as serious as a heart attack & that they’re not going to simply try to pass off FIGHT NIGHT & ON VERSUS level fights as main events.

    Now, my question is: where’s the rest of the card going to be televised? FX or Fuel?
    Of course, I’m hoping for FX because it’s the larger platform & it’s in HD.

    • cutch says:

      They are still contracted to Spike, they were always able to run shows on a Network they just never got the right deal. The FOX deal starts in 2012, I dont think Spike will want to promote this but you never know and may show the prelims.

    • Steve4192 says:

      The rest of the card will only be available on Facebook. Spike still has the cable rights until 2012, so Fuel & FX cannot air the prelims.

  7. fd says:

    The big reaction to the rumors of FOX deal from the mma media, particularly on Twitter, was “Zuffa must have given up production.” The big reaction to the actual announcement was “No fight that would draw big on PPV will go on free TV.”

    One of the main reasons I read this site is that it’s so hard to find MMA media that aren’t fucking idiots.

  8. Mr.roadblock says:

    Great job by UFC. There hasn’t been a heavyweight title fight on free TV since the 70’s.

    The winner is gong to be a household name. If it’s a good fight the loser will be too.

  9. RST says:

    Well if thats not Zuffa meeting fox more than halfway then I dont know what is.

    One one hand, thats a way generous give by Zuffa.
    But on the other, it may be too much and give a false expectation from Fox.

    Zuffa has given one of the best fights in the 1st or 2nd most popularly desirable divisions in the last 3-4 years.

    Fox has given an hour.

    And allegedly promotion during a football game,
    (to trad fans who may not care less).

    But Zuffa HAS to swing for the fence, and they have.

  10. 45 Huddle says:

    Heavyweight Title fight on Network TV. And a great one at that.

    This sport has come so far.

  11. IceMuncher says:

    Perfect inaugural fight for the UFC on Fox. I’m really curious to see how hard FOX pushes it. Either way, it should be huge.

  12. PL Allie says:

    I wonder how much money Zuffa is sacrificing by putting it on free tv. Really hopes it works, it’s a gutsy move.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      It is likely millions of dollars. But it’s worth it.

      What has hurt boxing is that every major fight is either on PPV or HBO/Showtime. This makes it hard to get the casual viewers involved.

      This is exactly the right step and direction for the sport, even if short term it doesn’t make sense. Long term, this at least has the potential to do big things.

    • Steve4192 says:

      “I wonder how much money Zuffa is sacrificing by putting it on free tv”

      Not as much as you would think, given the stakes and rankings of the two fighters involved. Neither Cain nor JDS are big PPV draws. They both draw in the 300K-400K PPV buy range as main event fighters (the lone exception being Cain’s fight with Lesnar).

      That is why this is the perfect fight for FOX. It’s two gifted young studs who are not massive draws …. yet. Putting them in front of an audience of 5MM to 10MM network TV viewers will do a whole lot to make them bankable draws.

  13. 45 Huddle says:

    Great interview with Lorenzo Fertitta.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOdcsrO5D18

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sXvW6r06nA

    1) He likes how Dana White gives honest opinions unlike other sports commissioners.

    2) There are multiple fighters who make over $10 Million a year from the UFC alone, not including sponsors.

  14. bluerosekiller says:

    I’ll give credit where credit is due 45 & you called this one on the money.
    You & I had several go rounds about this & while I was convinced that a deal with HBO or Showtime was the way to go for the UFC, you wanted to wait for a broadcast network deal. Something that I just couldn’t see happening…

    But, Zuffa got it done.
    And it’s certainly looking like this Fox deal was, indeed, the best way to go. As this World Heavyweight Title fight is going to be huge IMO.
    It’s going to be the first legitimate fight sport Heavyweight Championship fight on network television since 1985 when Larry Holmes defended against Carl Williams.
    Which, I think will get a lot of press & add to the event.
    I think Fox is REALLY going to do a bang up job with this thing & promote the hell out of it.
    I’ll be shocked if the ratings for this aren’t VERY successful.

    Jim

  15. david m says:

    RIP Cain’s title reign. J2S by vicious KO.

    Great fight, and should draw a big fucking rating.

  16. bluerosekiller says:

    However, I wouldn’t feel right if I just gushed about this without throwing in at least SOME criticism…
    That being that I wish fox had given them two hours to work with. I mean, with something THIS special it’d be nice to have an appetizer before the main course. You know, have some time to warm the new audience up to the meal before feeding them the prime rib.
    Just think how much better the night would be were Cain vs Junior proceeded by Henderson vs Guida…
    But, I suppose that’s just being greedy on my part.
    I’ll be just fine with it as long as some of the undercard is televised by someone. Which, I had assumed would be either FX or Fuel. But, if the real deal between all the parties doesn’t actually kick in until 2012, perhaps that won’t be the case?

    Jim

  17. Zack says:

    I’m really curious how they are going to do the live portion of this card. If they’re doing the Pond, are they going to section it off, or have really low ticket prices, or paper a ton? Obviously they need to make the product look great on TV.

    It doesn’t make sense for them to stack the card with anything PPV worthy other than the main event if its not going to be aired live, and I’m not sure you’re going to get a huge crowd for just that fight under the normal UFC ticket pricing structure.

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